A Life So Changed
by Ares' Warrior Babe
Summary: She sat on their bed, feeling as though she was barely breathing. Each breath she took hurt because he wasn’t there with her anymore. Allison told him they’d be together til death do them part, and he promised her they’d be together longer than that.


**Well, I want to write a Medium story and this is going to be the first one. As you can guess from the title, you can figure out what's going to happen. Sometime in Season 5....just cuz I like how long Allison's hair is....haha, oh and because Ariel can drive. So I guess after The Man in the Mirror….btw, I love that episode! Mainly for the cute part at the end when Joe is begging the unconscious Allison to be his wife and then she wakes up and they have that Ah-maz-ing kiss!**

**Just a Dream**

She was awoken by something in the middle of the night. She turned over to look at Joe's side; it was empty. Slowly she stepped out of bed and walked out into the living room. "Hey, what are you doing out here? Why are you still in your work clothes?" Joe looked to her, fear shining in his eyes. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Al," he whispered.

"Joe, you're scaring me." Allison walked over to her husband.

His eyes slowly met hers. "Something happened tonight. Something bad."

"Joe..."

He took a deep breath. "I think I might be dead."

She blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what he was saying to her. "What do you mean you think you might be dead?"

Joe ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know, Al. I mean, I was driving home from work and I saw these headlights...and the next thing I knew, I was here."

The phone began ringing. Allison stared at her husband, torn between answering the phone and listening to her husband tell her what happened. She turned to look at the phone, and then quickly looked back. "Hold on." She quickly walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Allison?" Lee's voice sounded scratchy, almost like he had been crying. She felt her heart begin to sink.

"Lee?"

He cleared his throat. "Allison, something bad happened. Joe was an accident earlier tonight..." Allison felt the tears begin building. _'No.' Don't say it; don't say it' don't say it' don't say it,'_ her mind whispered frantically. "And he was killed."

Cold ice filled Allison's blood as she turned around. She was standing alone in the living room. She didn't even register the sound of the phone falling out of her hand. "Allison? Allison?" Tears began falling from her eyes.

'_What do I do now?' _she thought as silent tears made their way down her face.

********

Morning light began creeping into the Dubois household. Allison had moved from the living room to sit at the kitchen table. She could hear her oldest daughter getting up and coming out to the kitchen. "Mom?" Ariel questioned, noticing her mother's red eyes and slumped shoulders. "What's going on?"

Allison's blood-shot eyes reluctantly met her daughter's. "I need you to get your sisters for me."

"Did something happen?" she asked while ignoring her mother's request.

"Ariel, please go get your sisters."

Ariel moved to stand beside her mom. "Something happened to daddy, didn't it? There's something wrong with him, isn't there?" Allison gave her a pointed look. She quickly turned and walked out of the room. Allison closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears before they came.

********

"Bridgette, Marie, wake up." Ariel gently shook her youngest sister's shoulder.

Bridgette sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What's going on? Why are we up so early?"

"Mom has something to tell us," Ariel replied.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Marie asked. Her oldest sister nodded. Bridgette scrambled down the ladder and handed Marie her glasses. Marie sighed.

Ariel grabbed Marie's hand and began to walk out of the bedroom.

********

Her eyes opened when she heard the footsteps of her daughters. "Girls, sit down. There's something I need to tell you." The three young girls sat, staring at their mother expectantly. Allison hesitantly cleared her throat. "There was an accident late last night. And daddy was in it." She could see Ariel's eyes begin to tear up.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Bridgette said solemnly.

"Bridgette!" Ariel yelled her sister's name.

"What? Why would mommy be crying and this upset if he was still alive?" Bridgette yelled back. They both turned to Allison.

Allison blinked away the tears. "Bridgette's right; Daddy was killed in the accident." Ariel began sobbing as tears made their way down Bridgette's face. Marie stayed quiet, simply watching her mother and sisters cry. She felt bad, but didn't want to cry because she knew that would make daddy upset. Besides, he was still with them; they just couldn't see him right now.

She walked out of the kitchen and into her room. "Daddy, why can I see you and mommy and Ariel and Bridgette can't?"

Joe sighed. "I don't know sweetie. Maybe it's because their grief won't let them."

"But I'm sad too. And I don't want them to cry."

"I don't want them to cry either." Marie stood silently for a while and her father disappeared. Her blue eyes soon began filling with tears. "Daddy," she sobbed out as she slid to the floor.

********

Today was the day. It was finally here. Today was Joe's funeral.

The day was a stark contrast to what Allison was feeling. On the outside, it was warm and sunny. But on the inside, there was a dark storm cloud hovering, waiting to break.

She sat on their bed, feeling as though she was barely breathing. Each breath she took hurt because he wasn't there with her anymore. Allison told him they'd be together til death do them part, and he promised her they'd be together longer than that.

Had that really only been two years ago that they promised that to each other?

Allison closed her eyes and wished for her husband. _'Please, be here. Be with me today.'_ Movement outside her bedroom caused her to open her eyes. She saw her three beautiful girls standing in black, all wearing faces of sorrow.

She motioned for them to come join her on the bed. The three girls crowded around her and she held them tightly against her. "We'll get through this," she promised. Ariel nodded as Marie and Bridgette stayed quiet.

********

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…" Allison heard the priest say as she stood at the gravesite. She could feel Marie's tiny hand in hers; feel the blood rushing through her daughter's body.

The sun warmed her face and she tilted her head towards it, wanting the feeling to spread. The warmth gave her a familiar feeling of comfort and right now, she needed comfort.

She was shocked out of her reverie when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Her head whipped to the side and she immediately tensed. "Joe," she breathed.

He smiled at her. "How's the pain?"

She glared at him for a moment. "Unimaginable."

Joe nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For dying; for leaving you." A tear made its way down her cheek. "If I hadn't gone down that road, if I had come home earlier…I could still be with you. And you wouldn't be here, crying over me." She looked away from him and wiped away her tears. The golden brown casket in front of her began its descent into the ground. Allison felt Ariel's and Bridgette's arms come around her and their tears falling onto her.

********

_Three Days later_

Allison stared at the ceiling, willing her husband to be there with her. She felt a hand rest on her stomach. "Hey," Joe whispered.

She turned to him. "Hey."

"How much does it hurt today?"

"Nine," she whispered as a tear fell from her eye.

Joe gently wiped it away. "How is this possible?" Allison asked.

"Clay told me a few things." She laughed and wiped away more tears.

Allison stared at him for a while. "I wish you could stay with me."

"I wish I could too. But I'm always going to be with you, you might not be able to see me, but I'll be here." Joe softly caressed her cheek. Allison closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. "I promise you, Al, I will always be with you," he whispered. "Always; just go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

She didn't want to give in and listen. But his voice was soothing her, making her feel safer than she had in the weeks since he'd died. Slowly her breathing became deeper and soon she was lost in the arms of Morpheus. "I love you, Allison."

********

Allison woke up to darkness. She moved her arm from her stomach to the other side of the bed. It was cold. Slowly she turned over to see the empty spot beside her. "No," she whispered into the dark. "You promised you'd be here!" Allison moved to his side of the bed and cried into his pillow. Her breaths were coming out in short gasps. "You promised me," she choked out.

********

Allison awoke with a sob. She bolted up, quickly brushing away her tears to look at the other side of the bed. It was empty. Hesitantly, she placed her hand there to feel it. It was warm; almost as if someone had been laying there.

Hot tears made their way down her cheeks as the door to the bathroom opened. She glanced up quickly as her husband walked in. Joe saw her crying and made his way to the bed. "Hey, Al, what's wrong?" Allison put her hands to her mouth trying to stifle the sobs that were coming out. Joe reached out to her and pulled her against his chest, cradling her tightly. "Shh, everything is okay, now. Everyone is safe." He softly rubbed her back and waited for her to calm down enough to tell him what she saw. Gradually her sobs died down until they became silent tears.

Allison slowly looked up at her husband, mentally memorizing every detail of him. "You were dead," she whispered.

"But I'm not really." Allison opened her mouth to protest, but Joe gently laid a finger against her lips. He pulled Allison onto his lap and gently caressed her cheek, wiping away the tears she had shed. "You can feel my touch on your skin; hear my voice as I speak to you; see me sitting in front of you." He grabbed her hand and laid it over his heart. "You can feel my heart beat beneath your fingertips." Joe leaned in close to Allison. "Feel my breath on your lips." He could taste the salt in her kiss.

Allison tangled her fingers in his hair as he deepened the kiss. She was breathless once he pulled away. "I'm alive, darlin', and I promise I'm not going to leave you." He smiled at her. "You're stuck with me, babe." She gave him a half-hearted smile. Joe wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Allison buried her face in her husband's neck, desperately wanting to believe what he was saying.

"I love you, Joe," she whispered.

"I love you too, Allison." He began running his fingers through her hair, wishing he knew of a way to take away all her bad dreams.

Joe kept her cradled against him as she fell back asleep. He looked at the clock and heard Ariel getting ready for school. Silently he debated on whether he should get up or stay with his wife.

A knock sounded on the bedroom door. "Come in," he called out quietly.

Ariel walked in and stopped, slightly taken aback at the sight of her parents. "Dad, is Mom okay?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah, she just had a really bad dream. Did you need something?"

His eldest daughter shook her head. "No, I can do it. Um, I'll get the girls breakfast and take them to school; that way you can stay here with mom."

He smiled at her. "Thanks Ariel."

Ariel smiled back. "Tell Mom I hope she feels better." She walked out of the room.

Joe turned his attention back to Allison. "I love you so much, Al," he whispered before placing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

**A/N: The ending kind of sucks, but my muse refused to cooperate towards the end. Well, that was my first Medium story. Hopefully you liked it.**


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